President's Corner

Years ago, I was talking to one of my clients and he shared that he shies away from giving his team members too many kudos. “You start telling them how great they are and the next thing you know, they’re gone.” I asked, “Well is it a bad thing if you are the reason, they’re able to move on to something bigger and better if you can’t do that for them within your organization?” He responded with, “Yes, because I have to pay to find someone to replace them and it costs more to replace than to retain.” Clearly, he missed the entire point.

Depending on the size of your business, the hardest thing of all is replacing a great employee. But if you know their potential and you don’t have growth opportunities within your business, you owe them the opportunity to shine bright in a job with better pay and opportunities for growth.Before working for the Chamber, I owned my own business and worked with fitness trainers. My goal was to empower them to the point where they either opened their own facility or went to work in a managerial role that offered them great advancement opportunities. I was a small studio and didn’t have the ability to do that. But if I saw the desire to grow and the talent to excel, I embraced helping them be successful. In turn, they will do anything they can to assist with a smooth transition for their replacement, if they’re able.

For larger companies, empowering them to grow within your community/organization is key to keep your culture strong. As a leader, regardless of the size of your company, giving your team the feedback they need to excel and shine their light I believe is my duty as a leader. Yes, it’s tough when we lose a great employee, but the idea that I’ve mentored them and provided them with enough confidence to move on to something that can change their life, it my privilege.

As many of you know by now, this is Colin Dalough’s last week. This young man came to our organization with passion, enthusiasm in policy. He came in every day with a positive attitude and became the “equalizer” in our office. We will miss him, but I’m happy and proud to see him go out and excel in his new role, an opportunity not available here. We all wish him the best of luck.

I have managed people for over 30 years, and the most fulfilling part is inspiring growth simply by recognizing and building on their talents.